With Wolf's Claw
by kyky xx 123
Summary: Marie Umbra is Bella's cousin, and moved in with Charlie when her Mother died. How will she cope when she meets a certain wolf and something else causes a dramatic change in her life? After BD. On Hiatus for exams.
1. Meeting a Stranger

**This is written slightly different to my other stories, there's more of a narrative, so if you aren't a fan of this story, my others my interest you more.**

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_The smell of roses and lilies._

_The feel of the grass between my toes, and warm skin under my palms._

_The sight of my own god, making my heart beat faster._

_Seeing his eyes sparkle in delight._

_We leaned towards each other. Lips skimming. Then-_

"Please fasten your seat belts, as we are beginning our decent into Port Angeles." I groaned involuntarily. A 10 hour flight from London to Seattle, then another flight lasting an hour to Port Angeles, where my Half-Uncle was waiting.

You may ask why I have moved almost 5,000 miles away? Well I have two words for you, car crash.

I used to live with my Mum in our little bungalow in Cumbria, and we were happy there, I went to high school, and parties, and I had a job at the local pub as a waitress, and my mum worked at the hospital as a midwife for 12 hours a day. I admit I was always whining about something or other, but that was just _me_.

The pressure change in the plane made my head hurt, so I popped a boiled sweet in my mouth, and hoped that it would help relieve the pain.

My mum was the sister of the police chief of a little town called Forks, but I had never met Charlie Swan, as my mother moved away to England with her father, when she was 3 years old. My mother gave birth to me when she was 24, my dad disappeared shortly after, I have no pictures of him, he never contacted me, all I have is his last name, Umbra.

My grandfather died from lung cancer when I was 10, he enjoyed his many cigars and cigarettes. I'm guessing he wasn't Charlie's father as one, my mother never told me she even had a brother, and two the most obvious one, my mother was 5 years older than him, and I know enough of my mum's midwifery to know that, that isn't possible.

Anyway, back to the reasons I was moving to Forks. On the 29th October 2010, my mum was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and received serious internal bleeding and a fatal head injury from a lorry at a roundabout.

When she died, I stayed with different friends for a while, but I couldn't keep relying on them all forever. So the courts traced my family back, and found a living relative, well two, Charlie Swan and his daughter Isabella, who I have heard was married in August of 2009 at the age of 18, that was ridiculous, but she has moved with her husband and her husband's family to San-Fransisco. Also her mother, who Charlie is divorced from, lives in Jacksonville with her new husband... and that is pretty much all I know about the person who is now my legal guardian. Other than he was more than happy to take me in.

I sighed and tied up my long red hair in a bun, knowing it was going to be at least 15 degrees outside, and with England in Winter where it has been in the negatives for the past 8 weeks at the least, it was going to be a shock.

"We have just landed in Port Angeles and the time is 18:32, I hope you enjoyed your flight and will fly with us again soon!" Came the cheery flight attendants voice from the overhead speakers. I waited until the rush of getting of the plane had died down slightly before I grabbed my Primark travel bag from the overhead locker, I may like to shop but I never said I had money, besides I'm not going to spend my mothers will money on a Louis Vutton bag, I am thinking of buying a car in a few months when I turn 17.

I stepped out of the cool plane and was hit with a wall of heat. Thankfully the sun was setting so at least it would be cooler soon. I quickly made my way through Customs, flashed them my passport, then grabbed my bag from the carousel, it wasn't too big as I was having some stuff posted and shipped, so I didn't have to buy too much.

I walked through the automatic doors, looked around and saw a Police car, where a balding man with a brown mustache streaked with grey, was leaning. I slowly made my way over to him. I was too clumsy for my own good. Even though I walked slowly, I still stumbled a few times. Finally the man noticed me and met me half way.

"So I'm guessing you are Marie?" He smiled at me and took my suitcase. I grinned sheepishly at him.

"How did you guess?"

"Well, lets just say clumsiness must run in the family," he chortled at my reddened face, "just like Bella."

He wiped his eyes and put my bags in the boot. He turned to properly looked at me, and whistled, "Woah, you are tall aren't you, you must get _that _trait from your father," he said in slight awe, I was known for my unusual height of 6 foot 2, but had gotten used to it as it did have some perks, like being able to see people in a crowded party. I inherited what must be my fathers blue eyes, as my mum's were a chocolate-brown, which I loved. I got my granddad's red hair though, and my mum's pin straightness along with the thickness, which made it good for plaiting, but hurt like hell if up for too long.

"Yeah, I'm guessing that _isn't _a family trait then?" He smiled and nodded then gestured for me to get in the car. Once we had pulled out of the airport Charlie spoke up.

"So tell me about your mother then."


	2. Present's from Charlie and Alice

Charlie and I talked quite comfortably for the journey home, and I began to realise that my mum and him were really related.

When he smiled the way his eyes crinkled was one of the things I loved most about my mum. When he gets nervous or the atmosphere gets awkward, I noticed how he clenched his jaw and began fiddling with his fingers on his right hand with his thumb. When he talked about his mother and became sad, reminded me of when Granddad died, my mum's legs would shake, and jaw would twitch, Charlie did that too. Just small things. Yet the thing I could not quite get over was how their eyes were exactly the same colour. It was like I was looking right at my mother. I had always admired her eyes, and always wished I had the eyes of chocolate milk, so I am glad they have carried on somewhere.

When we pulled up at his- our home, I couldn't help but smile. It was painted white, and had forest surrounding it. Agreed it was small, but cosy, and I have never lived in a big house. So it was perfect.

"I love it!" I squealed and clapped like a four year old. Charlie laughed and shook his head.

"Nice to see you're so exuberant." He quickly retrieved my bags from the boot, leaving me to smile at an inanimate object. "Well you can stand out here when it is going to rain soon-" he pointed to the gathering clouds that were covering the stars, that I have ever barely seen due to light pollution, "- or you can follow me and i'll show you the house." He quirked an eyebrow at my and I grinned and took one of my bags from him, then followed him inside.

He showed me the living room, which had a arm chair by the window, a settee against the wall, opposite a flat screen TV above the fireplace, and a coffee table in the middle of the room. There were various pictures on the wall off a mahogany haired and brown eyed girl at different ages situated along the walls, along with a photo of the same girl but older wearing a wedding dress, stood next to a man, who was _drool worthy_. Why didn't I come here a few years ago, then I would have had a chance! Damn. There was also a couple of photos of a young girl, with copper hair- exactly the same shade as hottie's and the girls brown eyes. I went up to the picture curiously.

"Hang on, wasn't your daughter married less than two years ago? And this girl looks exactly like her and her-" drool "-husband? Yet this girl is at the very least 5," I looked at Charlie. "Out of wedlock and at 15?" At first he went pale, and looked like a goldfish, then as I said the words 'out of wedlock and at 15' he turned the colour of puce and a vein throbbed in his forehead.

"I'll have you know Marie, that Isabella is a good responsible girl and I will not have you looking at her in that light!" He shouted, but his anger wasn't directed at me, more like at someone else, yet as to whom I hadn't a clue.

"So who is this girl then?" I pointed to the picture.

"None of your business," he then stormed out of the room and up the stairs. I sighed and followed him. Great I haven' been with this guy for more than 2 hours and already he's pissed. I sighed loudly and followed him up the stairs. At the top of the stairs there was a room was on the left, then there was a bathroom directly opposite the stairs, and another room on the right. I followed Charlie into the right room, and I did smile when I saw it. Three of the walls were painted teal, which were recently painted by the slight smell that still lingered, and the last wall had a teal and black wall paper. There was a metal double bed, which dominated the room, and had bedding which matched the wallpaper. In the corner there was a desk where I could put my laptop, and in the other corner there was a door, I had thankfully watched enough American films to know that it was a 'closet' or as I call it a 'wardrobe room'. Situated in the wall to the right of the bed and next to the desk, was a window painted white which had a teal blind covering it.

"It's great! How did you know my favourite colour is teal?" I said looking like a Cheshire cat.

"Well I tried to contact Bella to say that you were coming to live with me, but I found out from her sister-in-law that she and Edward had gone away and are not using electricity," he shuddered, as I noted how hottie's name was Edward, ah-well I prefer hottie anyway. "Then Alice asked, well told me that I should re-decorate the room, so she'd send me all the stuff, and she'll tell Bella when she gets back, which is the week after next."

"I should thank her, can I have her number?"

"Well apparently she is coming to see you on Friday as she is going to Seattle for a fashion show for the day, and will come here after you finish school," his eyes suddenly widened, "Oh yes, school. You start on Monday, so tomorrow I can take you into the main part of town and get you what you need, and you'll pick up your schedule on Monday morning." I couldn't help the large grimace that replaced the grin on my face, urgh a new school. I had never moved before and wasn't looking forward to the change of school.

All that changed though when I saw a large package wrapped badly in pink paper on the bed.

"Hmm, what's that?" I asked Charlie in what I call my inquisitive voice, and he began to blush embarrassed.

"I thought... you know... as you had moved... I you know... would get you something," he looked at his feet. I meanwhile squealed in delight.

"Ooooh, what is it?" I picked it up and noticed it was quite heavy, I gently shook it, but didn't hear much.

"That is why the wrapping paper is on it funnily enough, you have to _unwrap it _to find out," I stuck my tongue out at him and proceeded to rip off the paper. It was a flatscreen 19" TV, with built in digital and DVD. I jumped up and hugged his small person tightly.

"Thank you so much!" He laughed and hugged me back, then patted my back so he could attach _my _new TV to the bracket already attached to the wall which I hadn't noticed before. He then told me we was going to order a pizza and asked what I wanted which I quickly replied with any fish one, then he left me alone to settle down on my own.

I put my new ipod into my new docking station which all of my friends chipped in and bought me as a going away present. I quickly unpacked, singing along to Muse and 30 Seconds to Mars, putting my clothes in my wardrobe room, and putting up many pictures of my friends and I on various trips, like the one of 5 of us on the flume at Alton towers, where we were all dressed as farm animals for Emma's 16th birthday. Emma was dressed as a horse as she loves horse riding, Zöe was dressed as a chicken as she was scared of everything (including a kettle, long story), Jess went as a cow as we always say she is moody, Jodie was dressed as a pig as she eats like one (but annoyingly doesn't look like one), and I was dressed as a sheep as that was the only costume left in the shop.

Looking at the photos reminded me that I promised to talk to all of them on Skype when I arrived. So as I started up my laptop, I ventured into the bathroom and saw it was quite decent. There was a shower and a toilet so I was happy. Thankfully I don't really mind if I share a bathroom with Charlie as he doesn't seem like one to pry too much.

By the time I had explored the rest of the house and became exasperated at some of the things I found, like how there was no food in the kitchen, at least I can cook- without giving someone food poisoning anyway- so i'll have to get Charlie to buy some food.

By the time I returned upstairs my computer had booted up and I opened my 79 emails. Mainly from my best friends and some of my good friends, I skipped through them, and as they basically all said 'hope the flight was good' 'how is the weather' etc. etc. So I sent a general one back to everyone, and loaded up Skype. I saw how none of them were on though, and curiously checked the time and almost smacked myself when I realised that I was 5 hours behind so to them it was nearing 1AM and they were probably still at James' party, it was his 17th and his parents are uber-rich so they opened their mansion and he invited everyone in the year, plus he is Jess' boyfriend, but we had a little gathering before I left with Jess and James, Emma and Tim, Alana ad Joe, Zöe and Mike, and Zach and myself. Zach was my boyfriend a couple of weeks back, but we split on mutual agreement easily seeing that we were just good friends, so he came to the gathering. We just went for a meal and bowling.

I heard the doorbell ring, and I raced downstairs, my stomach rumbling loudly, and I grabbed my pizza, went into the living room and dug in.

"I see you have a good appetite then," he stated and sat on the settee as I was in the chair.

"Yep, I love anything edible, but I _love _fish," I said almost drooling thinking about it. Charlie grinned at me.

"Good because I am a keen fisher, so we always have a good supply." He informed me while taking a bite of his pizza and his eyes fixed onto the American rugby, which just looked like rugby to me, but i'm not a very sporty person. When I asked him what he was watching he laughed and said football, nu-uh that's not football to me. We had a little debate about it and eventually agreed to disagree.

I quickly finished my pizza, and I told Charlie how we were going food shopping tomorrow. He nodded and told me to set my alarm for 10AM in case I'm not up by then, because we were going over to a Sue Clearwater's for tea. I did notice how loved up he appeared when he said 'Sue' and I think he will get a bit of teasing tomorrow, well unless their obvious relationship is public.

I quickly took a shower and washed my hair. Then jumped into bed, and fell asleep while watching my TV.


	3. So Many Shirtless Men

"Charlie! You're late!" A woman, with short silvery hair and a apron around her waist, scolded my new guardian as she opened the door.

"Sorry, shopping took longer than planned," he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek, so cute! "This is Marie, my niece."

"It's lovely to meet you." I smiled and shook her hand.

"Likewise," Sue smiled sweetly and invited us in. The first thing I noticed was lots of tanned chests.

"Where's Leah and Seth?" Charlie asked.

"Leah is out getting some dessert and Seth couldn't make it." Sue replied, taking our coats.

"Seth and Leah are Sue's kids." Charlie informed me, but truthfully I was distracted.

"Hello Marie, my name is Sam, and this is my wife, Emily." One of the tanned gods said, pointing at a disfigured yet pretty girl, who greeted me so warmly, I felt guilty at looking at her husband. But who goes walks around in only shorts in Winter? It's not my fault...

"Billy! How are you?" Charlie roared, walking over to a man in a wheelchair.

"I'm very good thanks," he replied, shaking Charlie's hand. "Jake called today, everyone's fine. Nessie has grown a lot."

"Who is Nessie?" I asked.

Charlie turned around and frowned at me.

"What?" Innocent little me, heh.

"Erm-"

He was saved by the front door opened at that moment, and a girl of about twenty who was my height strode through it.

"I've brought your ice!" She called, then stopped and looked at me. "I'm guessing you're Charlie's ward."

I glared at her. "Niece, I think was the word you were looking for." I then smiled sweetly, that's sure to irritate her.

She gave a low growl and stalked off. I laughed, she was going to be fun.

"Sorry about Leah," Sam apologised.

"No problem." I grinned.

For the next half an hour, I ended up talking to Paul and his fiancee, along with some guys called Embry and Quill, they were all nice guys, to be fair.

"So what do you all do for jobs?"

"Well I help run the grocery store in La Push, family business." Quill smiled.

"Sam and I own the garage, so if you need your car fixing, we can do it, discount for friends and family." Embry smiled.

"I might take you up on that offer when I can drive." I warned.

"You can't drive yet? How old are you?"

"Sixteen, you can't learn to drive until you're seventeen in England, but I'm seventeen in June, only a few months." I grinned, exciting!

"Oh, well come to the garage when you want, there are some second hand cars for a decent price there, and they're safe." He added after looking at my uncle.

I keep forgetting he was a Cop.

"Dinner is ready!" Sue called from the kitchen.

We all went around a huge table centred in the kitchen, laden with an incomprehensible amount of food on it. I would have guessed that closer to 50 than 15 were coming!

I ended up sitting between Rachel and Embry, with Leah sat opposite, and helped myself to some rice, chicken jalfrezi and lamb kebabs. I must admit, Sue was an amazing cook.

After a lengthy and relaxed dinner we played the name game, as usual when I came to guessing games, I was one of the last ones, along with Charlie- there was something we had in common then- and Leah.

Eventually Charlie realised that he was Johnny Depp, so it was just Leah and I.

She was Lady Gaga, thanks to Rachel, but she had only determined that she was a american female solo artist who isn't married. All I had determined was that I was british, female, not a singer, not an actress, married and under 35.

After another 5 minutes, she managed to guess hers, annoyingly, and I gave up.

"Kate Middleton, really Sam?" I huffed, I never said I was a good sport when it came to games.

Everyone laughed at my face, to my annoyance and as Embry smacked the table with his hand he ended up sending one of the glasses flying. Without thinking, I flicked my hand up and grabbed it, quickly replacing it on the table.

The crowd gathered around the table stared at me, shocked.

"What? Just because I'm not good at sport doesn't mean I haven't got good reflexes!" I grinned.

It was silent for a moment then everyone resumed their laughter, including me.

"Thanks for dinner." Charlie grinned two hours later, kissing Sue sweetly. When they pulled away, Sue quickly looked around and noticed me. I zipped my lips, locked them and threw away the key.

"Sorry we didn't leave earlier," Charlie said sheepishly as we walked through the door at 2 in the morning. "I forgot you have school in the morning."

"Don't worry, I'm a morning person who can drink lots of coffee. Besides, it was fun." I then hugged him. "Night."

It wasn't until I pulled away that I noticed his shocked face. "Oh sorry, no hugs? It's a force or habit, but I refrained from the kiss on the cheek." I laughed trying to hide my slight embarrassment.

It's okay. I was just surprised that's all." He was beginning to go red.

"Night!" I said again and ran upstairs, escaping that awkward situation, but he did reply with his own goodnight.

I set my alarm for 6, trying not to think about my first day. Thankfully I quickly fell asleep as it was about 8AM to me anyway, stupid changing clocks.


	4. First Day

"Okay, take a seat Miss Umbra," My new Geography teacher said, completely uninterested, gee thanks.

I meandered my way towards the back where there was a empty desk.

The same instant that my bum touched the chair, a chestnut haired guy sauntered over.

"Hey, I'm Joe.'" He grinned and winked, obviously he thought he was Gods gift to women.

"Hi Joe." I said winking back, why not play along?

"I hear you're the Chief's niece."

"One and only, well possibly not..."

He paused as he looked me over, I noticed how his gaze paused on my chest.

"You are just-"

"I'll stop you there," I was bored now. "I'm sure that if I was a bimbo, like you are so obviously accustomed to, I would have fallen at your feet and begged for a date with you, but I'm not feeling it. Oh and I don't think your girlfriend is too pleased." I pointed at a fairly pretty girl with dark blonde hair and looked like she was plotting how best to strangle me.

Joe suddenly lost his 'smouldering look' and stalked off towards the front, where the blonde girl turned her back on him. Ha.

I suddenly noticed a low giggle from someone next to me. I looked to my left and saw a fair haired guy grinning at me.

"Thanks for that, you have brightened my day." He smiled and held his hand out. "Alex Stanley."

"Marie Umbra, and you're very welcome." I shook his hand, he looked like a nice guy.

"Oh, everyone knows your name. Small town."

"I gathered that by the population on the sign." I laughed. "So what other gossip about me is there?"

"You're the chief's niece and Bella Swan's cousin, it's safe to say you now have a reputation to uphold."

"How do you mean?"

"Well she was the quiet, shy one who was one of the most sought-after girls, she was nice and new, who went out with the most sought-after guy in the school, who's family are probably the richest any town has seen, then she became the depressed, mentally unstable one when he left her, then they got back together, got married then she almost died from a mystery illness, but survived then moved away." He sighed. "Bit too fairytale like though."

"Woah." I laughed, slightly awed. "My cousin is practically a celebrity."

"I just know a lot because my sister was... 'friends' with her."

"What's with the sceptical tone?" I asked.

"I think she was one for the gossip as opposed to the friendship, she took after my mom, I on the other hand am told I'm like my dad, so don't panic."

Finally the teacher realised class was meant to start a lengthy ten minutes ago and launched into a lecture about rocks... Yay.

"My brain is dead." I grumbled to Alex as we joined the lunch queue.

"Don't worry, I don't think it was that alive to begin with." He winked, reaching over to grab a sandwich. "I would avoid the burgers, unless you like soggy buns and burnt meat of course."

"I might do..." But I reached over and grabbed a chicken sandwich along with a bottle of coke. "Anyway it's not my fault that the only reason I'm awake is due to huge amounts of caffeine drinks!"

He just snorted.

We paid and he towed me over to a large table over by the window.

"New girl!'" A dark haired and hyper looking girl announced as we sat down. "Hi, I'm Faith."

"Hey Marie, I'm Becca." A mousey haired girl with glasses said nicely from next to Faith. "And this is Faith's boyfriend, Xavier." Becca pointed to a guy who just plopped his tray down next to his girlfriend, he smiled and nodded a hello.

"This is Remmy." Alex told me, pointing next to him at a gangly looking boy who appeared as if his mobile phone was surgically attached to his hands.

"Next to him is Jenna." A girl with white blond hair looked up from a pile of textbooks momentarily and waved. "Lastly there is the triplets, Daisy, Violet and Zephyranth, but we call him Zeph. Their mother is a florist." At the other end there were two light brown haired girls and a guy. Daisy had waist-length straight hair, Violet had a full fringe and curly hair and Zeph had short wavy hair.

The guys, even Remmy who put his phone away, began talking about sport, so I went down the other end of the table and sat inbetween Jenna and Violet. They decided to do twenty questions and then I could ask what I wanted about them after.

"So where about's do you come from?" Faith asked.

"North of England."

"Why did you move?" Daisy asked quietly.

"The last of my family died, well everyone but my Uncle and cousin." Everyone murmured words of sympathy and I just rolled my eyes. "Fact: I don't like sympathy, but, depending on the situation, I will appreciate the fact you're being nice."

Violet shrugged and smiled. "I hear you."

After all the questions I found out that: Jenna is a bookworm and very down to earth. Faith is loud and bubbly but takes everything you say to heart. Becca is kind and patient, and seems like someone you could trust with even your darkest secret. Daisy was very shy and, from the glances she kept sending in a certain direction, likes Remmy. Lastly Violet and I seemed to have a lot of common, which means we could either be good friends or clash because we are too alike.

In what felt like 10 minutes, lunch was over and I walked to Art with Daisy.

"So are you going to the dance next Friday?" She asked quietly.

"Oh, why not? Chance to get out of the house for a bit and mingle." I smiled at her, trying to relax her a bit, she looked a lot smaller than her sister because she was so nervous. "Although these limbs aren't so good on the dance floor, I look a bit like I'm having a seizure. Anyway what am I supposed to wear to this Dance?"

"The theme is Movies I think." She added. "Dress as a character maybe?" Daisy looked thoughtful and appeared to drift off in a daydream. Thankfully we had just reached the room we needed to so I just went to the teacher, gave my slip in, and led Daisy to the back.

"How was your first day?" Charlie asked as he walked into the kitchen, where I was making homemade fish and chips.

"Admittedly it wasn't as bad as a thought it would be, I think I've made some new friends."

"That's good! Who?"

"Alex Stanley, Daisy, Violet and Zeph Blake, Jenna Marx, Faith Michaels, Becca Cheney, Xavier Reynolds and Remmy Knox." I listed as I flipped over the battered fish. "Oh and I think I annoyed a Joe someone."

"Joe...?"

'"Oh, brown haired, has a girlfriend, thinks he's Zoolander."

"Joe Wills." Charlie laughed. "Well I can't say I'm disappointed you're not friends with him."

By now dinner was ready and I was starving, so I didn't broach the subject of his daughter until we had finished.

"Isabella is famous at the school, I've been told that I have a reputation to uphold."

"In what way?" He said trying to appear uninterested but it was so obvious he wanted to know more.

"Long story short, everyone wanted her, she got the guy everyone else wanted, there were rough patches but it's basically a fairytale ending."

Charlie snorted at the last part, but it seemed slightly involuntary.

"Don't take notice of what anyone says, do what you like."

I wish, I've already had at least 9 guys asking me to the dance next week, I said no to all of them, nicely of course, but I don't want a relationship now.

"You know they even have a saying about the Cullens, I was told that on Valentines Day, instead of the traditional 'will you be my valentine' it was changed to 'will you be my Cullen', creepy much?" I shuddered but laughed when Charlie spurted his beer in surprise.

"Kid's these days." He rolled his eyes and went to the living room to watch tv.


	5. Meeting a Cullen

My first week was pretty good. I tended to stay with Alex though as we had almost every class together, and he really did make me laugh.

But today was Friday, and my Cousin's sister-in-law was coming over. Why did I feel so nervous?

"Ready to go?" Alex asked as I walked to his car, Daisy, Violet and Zeph were already in the backseat.

"Yup." I replied as I slid into the passenger seat. Alex just laughed.

"Don't worry. Alice Cullen was nice to everyone, I'm just glad that boyfriend of hers isn't going to be there. He's quite... intense."

"You could say that." Zeph murmured from the back. I turned and looked at him questioningly. "I sat near him in History once, and he just stared at me. It was downright creepy."

I frowned, that way he was describing Alice's boyfriend, I really hoped he didn't come.

"Here we are." Alex smiled as he pulled up to my new home. I whistled when I saw a yellow Ferrari next to my Uncle's police car.

"I want one." Zeph moaned as he stared at it.

"Come on Marie, it's not like she's going to bite you!" Violet said, sniggering at my reluctance to leave.

"How do you know? With all that money she'd probably hide my body and pay my Uncle off to keep quiet. But at least you will all fight for the truth!" I place a hand over my heart, ad held off fake tears.

"Not if she pays us enough first." Violet winked and pushed and poked until I got out. "I'll pick you up at 10am tomorrow! You better not be late!" She yelled out the window as Alex drove off, throwing me a wave.

I turned round, and ignoring my uneasiness, walked towards my door. Before I could lay a hand on the handle, it was already open.

A short girl stood grinning at me. She had short black hair which looked like it had been cut in a hurry, but to give he credit it did look fashionable. Speaking of fashion, she was wearing lots of it, but I didn't expect much else from the car in the driveway. The oddest thing about though was her pure white skin and golden eyes. I thought I was white.

"Hi Marie, I'm Alice." Her voice, velvety and musical...

I pursed my lips and shook her gloved hand. Something in me was telling me not to be wary of her.

"Nice to meet you. You should take those gloves off. You're inside." I said, smiling while walking past her.

"Marie." Charlie sighed as I hung my jacket up. "It's possible she doesn't want to."

I raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

"She's right Charlie, it is strange." She slid the gloves off in one fluid movement. "Did you like your room?"

"Yes thank you, but I didn't expect anything like that. How's Nessie?" I asked, satisfied when I saw Charlie and Alice stiffen slightly. When I asked about the pictures the second time, they mysteriously disappeared, and when I asked about the girl called Nessie and Jake, he clammed up again. I'm not stupid, so I don't like being treated like an idiot.

Alice seemed to think about something, then her face went blank.

"She's well thank you." Alice eventually answered. I nodded in response, pleased she didn't try to act stupid.

Just then Charlie got a call, meaning he had to leave, he said goodbye to the two of us, an uneasy look towards Alice and a stern look towards me, I could almost hear his thoughts, _behave_.

"So Marie, tell me a bit about yourself?" She asked a while later while I fixed something up for tea.

"I come from England. I'm sixteen, seventeen in June. My mum died last October. She was Charlie's older half-sister. My favorite food is fish. I extremely dislike liars. I'm only friends with people I trust."

I looked over towards Alice, she was smiling.

"I'll earn your trust someday."

"Maybe. I appreciate you not lying to me before though, it's a step in the right direction." I did flash her a quick smile.

"Lying wouldn't help anything." She murmured, then smiled again. "So what are you wearing to the dance next week?"

"Urm... I'm going shopping tomorrow, so I'm not entirely sure yet." I shrugged, dicing up some chicken. "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"

"I'm sure. I'm not hungry. Thank you."

I frowned, she was telling the truth as far as I could tell so I continued with my cooking.

"Well, I have some ideas, hang on." She left the room and then after a couple of seconds returned with some bags. "Just say if you don't like them, I can easily return them."

She reached into the first bag and pulled out a black floor length sequined dress. I was in love. I gasped and gently put the knife down.

"I knew you would like it." She laughed.

"I do!" I squealed.

"Why don't you go and try it on? I'll make sure the chicken doesn't burn."

I ran up to my room and couldn't get it on fast enough, simple but gorgeous. What amazed me that it was exactly my size, almost as if it was custom made.

"Let's see." Alice knocked on my door and I pulled it open my grin faltering.

"Do you not like it?"

"I do... but it must have cost a lot." I didn't like having money spent on me, I only accepted my iPod because they begged me to accept it as they wanted me to have something they they all gave me.

"It's no problem for my family Marie, besides, see it as a gesture of good faith for your trust."

I thought about it for a few minutes.

"I'll wear it on the promise that you take it back the next time you see me, one of your family could wear it."

"I'm not making promises I can't keep. Besides no-one in my family is tall enough.

I could she she was going to be firm about this.

"Thank you Alice." I hugged her gently, trying to ignore the fact she was cold and hard like a stone.

"Just like that?" Violet gaped at me.

"Just like that."

"You are so lucky to have them as family." Faith said, linking her arm with mine as we walked around the dress shop.

"I barely know them! Besides Alice has already gone and Charlie said they probably won't visit again for a couple of months." I pointed out as I looked at some shoes.

"Pfft, you're still lucky."

I rolled my eyes and made my way to the changing rooms to see what the others were trying on.

"So who are you going to go with?" Becca asked me, pulling back her curtain and stepping out in a simple vintage floor-length black dress.

"Do I need to go with anyone?"

"No, I was just curious." She stood in-front of the mirror, twisting side to side.

"It looks gorgeous, very Breakfast at Tiffany's." I smiled at her in the mirror.

"Hm. The glasses don't exactly help the look." She took her glasses off, squinted, then returned them. "It's hopeless, I'm as good as blind."

"Don't be silly." I laughed. "I'll go with you to the optician next and we'll get you some contacts."

"You would?" Her eyes lit up.

"Of course!" She grinned and skipped back into her cubicle. "I'm getting the dress."

"It's a shame Jenna can't go." Faith and Violet came out of their cubicles.

"Love yours Faith, but I think the yellow makes you look a bit wishy-washy Vi. Yeah but it's not really her fault."

"I know, but the rest of us are paired up. Xavier and I. Alex and Vi. Remmy and Daisy; thank god he finally asked her! And Zeph and Becca."

"Actually, Alex and I are only going together because we agreed before Marie came. I'm sure Alex wouldn't mind if I ditched him." She winked at me.

"Ha. Nah I'll find someone if it's that important."

"Well it's not like you have a shortage of guys asking you out." Faith pointed out.

"Okay then. Who is nice and won't grope me for the whole night?"

"Erm." The two girls looked at each other.

"Oscar is nice." Daisy's quiet voice came from behind a curtain.

"She's right." Becca poked her head around to join in the conversation.

"Which one is Oscar?"

"Tall. Dark haired. Shy. I think he has Algebra with you."

I racked my brains, and then I remembered.

"Oh I know who you mean. He's spoken to me a couple of times but never asked me out."

"Shy, duh." Faith giggled.

"Hang on, isn't Oscar Zoolander's brother?" I crossed my arms.

"Twin, yes. They look-alike, but completely different personality wise."

"Just let him know you're interested. Talk to him a bit, he is actually a nice guy." Vi added.

"Come on guys. We still have to get shoes, and accessories. Charlie expects me back at six."


	6. The Dance

**Two chapters for you all. Let me know what you think as I'm still trying to get into the story myself.**

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Today was the day of the dance, I was pretty excited. I had finally plucked up the courage, after talking to Oscar for the past week, to ask him and he said he would love to. The girls were right, he was a nice guy.

We all ended up getting ready at Daisy and Vi's house while Zeph and the rest of the guys went to Alex's house. I did my make-up pretty simply but gave myself deep red lips that matched my hair as it curled softly over one shoulder. I think I blushed a bit when they all complimented me on my dress, what made it for me though was when Oscar came to pick me up and his mouth was slightly agape.

"Woah... you look... _really_ nice." He smiled widely.

"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself." I winked and put my arm through his as we went to his car.

I subtly studied him while we drove and he was looking pretty dashing. His dark hair was gelled up in a stylish way, slightly longer than his twins', his blue eyes were soft as opposed to piercing like his brother's, high cheekbones, and he was tall but lean, I could see the muscles under his shirt. All that and he was a genuinely sweet guy... did I somehow go to heaven?

And to top it all off, he opened my door and helped me out of the car.

I blushed when we walked into the room and I think every eye turned to look at us. Little secret, I like to seem confident but I'm not all that confident really.

"Shy?" Blue eyes looked down at me.

"Can you blame me?"

He chucked, making my cheeks flush slightly in irritation.

"No, just put on a smile and you'll be fine." He patted my hand which lay in the crook of his arm.

"How are you not embarrassed?" I whispered.

"Because I'm with the prettiest girl in the state, you could give Rosalie Cullen a run for her money." I opened my mouth to argue, I'd heard enough about said Cullen to know he wasn't anywhere near the truth, but he gently put a finger on my lips, an amused look on his face. "Know when to take a compliment. Now will you dance with me madame?" He held his hand out, with a bow.

"It's _mademoiselle_ but yes." I winked. _Why did I wink?_

I had a wonderful night, spending the night with him and my friends. When the last song finished, Vi came up to Oscar and I.

"You guys want to come over to the pool? No alcohol I swear." She grinned.

"Are you sure that's okay?" Oscar asked, his face passive but I could see wariness in his eyes.

"Live a little." Vi murmured.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to, it's only an offer." I smiled at him.

"I take it you're going then?"

"Only if you do, I can't exactly ditch my date."

He sighed and then smiled. "Lets go."

The eight of us went to the pool, hushing each other when we heard a car pass. Daisy and Remmy decided to leave as they weren't comfortable in breaking and entering. If I was honest, I was pretty apprehensive, I'd never really done anything like this and I was living with the police chief of Forks... maybe I should leave now.

"Can we have a safe word?" I looked at Oscar pleadingly.

"What do you mean?"

"If one of us wants to leave we can say... pomegranates."

"Agreed, I'm running if I hear sirens!" He laughed.

"Thank god I'm staying at Vi's tonight, I'd never get rid of the chlorine in time."

Zeph managed to unlock the door and we all slid in, almost immediately everyone started stripping down to their underwear, thank god I was wearing a slip. But Faith seemed to love me even more as she didn't have a bra on, and thankfully I had an adhesive one under my slip for extra comfort, it didn't cover her up very much, but as she said, it's better than nothing!

We managed to get a volleyball from the cupboard and began messing around with it and then we took turns to dive. As I climbed the steps to the diving board, I got the familiar sensation of light headedness and black spots, damn blood pressure, but I ignored it, I was the best so far and wasn't going to give it up for a spout of dizziness.

I perched on the edge of the 5m board grinning at the soft cheers of my friends below. But just as my feet left the board I blacked out.

But I did see something... Giant furry creatures growling and snapping at other creatures who were white and had ruby-red eyes. But I also saw something else, I saw a small group of these pale creatures with golden eyes, dressed in clothes from decades ago facing another group... but they were slightly fuzzy. I saw two huge groups of the white eyed creatures. One group was all dressed in black cloaks and had red eyes. Whereas the other group had a mixture of red and golden eyes and they were also intermingled with the giant creatures.

"Marie!" I was suddenly brought out of the weird visions I was seeing by crying, screaming and hard smacks on the back. That was when I noticed large amounts of water were being released from my lungs, barely allowing me to take a breath. After what felt like hours I was eventually able to gasp some much-needed oxygen into my lungs.

"Marie, please wake up." Came the same worried voice who called my name before. I curious about who it was, so with a lot of effort, I opened my eyes.

A face with blue eyes and dark hair swam above me, but my brain wouldn't focus enough so I could understand who it was. What was wrong with me?

Without realising my eyes fluttered closed, but I felt someone gently shake my shoulder.

"Marie, you need to stay awake, someone will be here soon." The voice was desperate.

"Get away from her, all of you!" Another voice came from somewhere around me. "Marie. Oh god." The voice was closer this time.

"How far away are the EMT's?" A girl said.

"About two minutes." The gruff voice said from right next to me. "Marie, I know you don't want to but open your eyes for me, I need to know you're awake." The voice sounded upset so I tried my hardest to follow the command, but my eyelids felt like lead. I think my eyelids managed to flutter though as I heard a small sigh.

"Can you squeeze my hand?" I felt something hot slide into my left hand, it was much easier to gently tighten the muscles in my hand than it was to lift my eyelids.

"Good, now I want you to do that when I pause at any point. Okay?" I squeezed gently. "It's your Uncle Charlie, you've hit your head pretty badly, but the EMT's are almost here, and I'm sure you'll be fine, I have someone's faithful word on that. So until they just focus on my voice, don't go to sleep."

At some point the 'EMT's' arrived and I think I succumbed to sleep in the ambulance, I was just too tired.


	7. Repercussions

I woke up to bright lights directly above my head. My head felt foggy and my limbs felt heavy. I blinked a couple of times to adjust to the light and then gently tried to move my head to look around but pain shot from my head and neck, causing me to hiss in pain.

Almost immediately I saw a face over me.

"You shouldn't move, you were badly hurt." the woman above me had murky brown eyes, long brown hair and a heart-shaped face... and was also pale... that seems to tug at my memory.

"Who are you? What happened?" I heard some beeping increase and it took me a moment to realise it was a heart monitor.

"Calm down. I'm Bella, your cousin. You were jumping off a diving board and blacked out, you hit your head pretty hard on the way down and drowned. Your friend managed to get the water out of your lungs. But your head injury was pretty bad. You were sedated for a couple of days due to the swelling but you were in a coma for another week."

"I don't remember..."

"Shh, it's okay, you don't need to remember it yet, let it come back to you naturally." I felt something cool on my forehead and sighed in relief, I didn't realise how hot it was in here. "I'll just turn the heating down for you." She disappeared from my sight for a few seconds and I heard a door open.

More gently this time, I tried to look but couldn't get very far before the pain shot through my head again.

"Hello Marie, I'm Doctor Evans, it's good to see you awake." A small, plump but kind looking man stepped into my view. He quickly checked my vitals, and seeming satisfied, he put my file underneath his arm.

"So as Mrs Cullen likely told you, you had a accident-" He then launched into a description of my treatment to the drugs they used to sedate me, the result of some tests they conducted etc.

"Apparently your friends said you blacked out which caused your accident have you experienced things like this before?"

"Occasionally, but I've always but it down to blood pressure."

He frowned and looked at his notes.

"Well as I said we conducted tests and your blood pressure is pretty normal, and when we did a CT scan there is nothing to indicate anything cerebral related. So I would like to conduct some more tests to get to the bottom of it." He smiled and gently squeezed my shoulder before he left.

"Where's Charlie?" I sighed after a few minutes of silence.

"He's had to go to work for a bit, but he should be back in the next hour or so, I would have thought sooner as the nurses have already called him."

"Is he angry?" I bit my lip, hating that I may already have blown it with my Uncle.

"No," Bella's voice said softly. "He was pretty scared and disappointed, but not angry."

"So how long have you been here? I thought you were on holiday?"

"I was on holiday but when Charlie called Carlisle to tell him what happened, Alice and Jasper traveled out to find us immediately, and as soon as we heard we came back. I got here just over a week ago."

"We? Did all of your family return?"

"Most of us. Rosalie and Emmett are on holiday at the moment, and Carlisle and Esme will have to return soon as he needs to be back at work on Friday."

"Why did you come back?" I tried to turn my head to look at her and was fairly successful but she came and stood closer to the bed and raised the bed a bit higher.

"You're family." She shrugged.

"You didn't know about me until a week ago." I mumbled.

"It doesn't change that I'm your cousin and you just lost someone very dear to you. I couldn't imagine losing my mom or dad. It must be difficult."

"I manage." I stared into her pitying eyes, determined not to have her feeling sorry for me. I can look after myself, you cope with the hand you're dealt, mine may have its black splotches but it has its happy times.

"You're tough." She laughed after a minute. "I think you'll be just fine."

The door flew open to reveal my Uncle, looking flushed in the face and his curly hair disheveled.

"Thank god." He smiled and hugged me tightly, pulling away quickly when I took in breath sharply as he nudged my neck.

"It's alright." I patted his arm, I looked into his worried eyes and sighed. "I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have done what I did, I've never done anything like that before. I'm not usually this reckless, I just wanted to have some fun and join in with the others. I was so stupid. I promise I'll never do anything like that again. I hope I haven't ruined it already, you're the only person who was willing to look after me, and now I've gone as cost you lots of money and probably ashamed you..."

I stopped when I felt the tears sting in my eyes. I had looked away when I began and resorted to staring at the ceiling, fighting the tears back. Not long after Charlie came in, Bell had left shutting the door gently behind her.

I didn't react when I heard my Uncle's heavy sigh.

"First things first, you haven't cost me lots of money, the Cullen's have astounding amounts of money and they beat me down until I agreed to let them pay for your bills, so you will repay them in a way they see fit. Secondly I'm not ashamed of you although I agree it was _very _stupid and reckless. Thirdly I'm not going to punish you as I think you may have learned your lesson and I'm not going to stop you from seeing your friends as it think they have too, as long as you _never _do anything like this again, you're very lucky the school decided not to charge you all with breaking and entering. But although I'm not punishing you, when the doctor say's you're ready to return to school, the school has decided that the eight of you will stay behind each day for an hour for two weeks and clean the school."

"I can do that." I was happily going to take the punishment as things could have ended up so much worse.

"Good. Visiting hours start soon, so I'm going to head off as I'm sure you will have a few visitors." He smiled and left.

The nurse came in and checked my vitals again and gave me a little more pain relief for my neck, reassuring my it was just from the swelling and that it shouldn't take much long for it to go down.

My first visitors were Vi, Zeph and Daisy, as I was only allowed three at a time. Zeph apologised and said he would make it up to me while I waved him away saying it wasn't his fault, if I had been sensible I wouldn't have done it in the first place. Daisy sniffled a little and said it was glad to finally see me awake. Violet just stood silently, looking guilty. I hate assuming things so I decided to ask what was wrong with her.

"I know it wasn't exactly my fault, but I still feel like it was, it was my idea to do it in the first place!"

"Yeah but I didn't have to go, you didn't exactly force me. But I get the feeling what I say isn't going to affect how you feel, but at least you know it wasn't your fault."

She smiled gently at me and shortly after they left, telling me they would come again soon.

Next came Faith, Becca and Jenna. Faith gushed about how upset she was and how stressed she'd been, and it didn't bother me, it was Faith saying she was worried about me in her Faithy way. Becca told me she had picked up all of my school work and would be happy to come over and help me with it, I was grateful, I got good grades but I had to put a lot of work into it and I didn't want them to drop because of my stupidity. Jenna, who was out of town the night of the dance, just wanted to know how it went with Oscar, and I appreciated it, a distraction and not sad looks.

I asked how Oscar was, and the three of them all looked at each other before Becca said that he is going to try to come later as his parents have him doing various punishments for breaking in.

After them Remmy, Xavier and Alex came. Alex immediately engulfed me in a gentle hug, chastising me for going up there if I felt dizzy. I stuck my tongue out at him and he grinned in return, I felt closest to him and Vi, even though I had only known them all for two weeks, well I guess three now. We chatted about nothing in particular, but it was nice to see them all the same.

Alice came bounding in first, following after was a beautiful, petite woman with caramel coloured hair and a kind face and a tall, handsome man with blonde hair. All of them had gold eyes. I felt a twinge of uneasiness when I saw them, but forced myself to relax.

"Marie, these are my parents, Esme and Carlisle Cullen."

"It's nice to meet you. And thank you for doing that for Charlie."

"It's nothing dear. You're family now." Esme smiled sweetly, looking so motherly I had to look away.

"Well I'm amazed to see you awake if I'm honest. You were pretty badly hurt." Carlisle said, briefly looking at my notes.

"You're the doctor aren't you?"

He laughed. "Yes, not obvious at all. Sorry, my curiosity takes over me sometimes. It's nice to meet you too." he grinned sheepishly.

I learned a bit about the Cullen parents. Esme loved interior design and have renovated several houses around the country. Her biological niece and nephew are Jasper and Rosalie Hale and her and Carlisle adopted Edward, Alice and Emmett when their parents died. I didn't really realise how close I came to becoming an orphan like them all.

After about ten minutes Alice said that Bella, Edward and Jasper wanted to see me. After Esme and Carlisle had invited me to go to their house when I'm discharged, which Carlisle assures me will be tomorrow, the day after at the latest, they left.

I lay my head back against the pillows and closing my eyes. Seeing Esme and Carlisle made me wonder what my dad would have been like if he hadn't disappeared or run off or whatever happened to him. And Esme she radiated motherness and it made my heart ache for my mum. For the first time in a long time, I let a tear slide out from under my eyelids and down my face. I barely cried when she died, I went numb for a while. I didn't want to cry. My mum was tough and so was I, I don't think I ever saw her cry, but at that moment I wanted to let a tear loose to show that I did miss her.

I jumped when a cold hand was laid on my arm, and my eyes flew open briefly to see my cousin stood next to me looking concerned, before they closed again as the pain increased in my neck and skull. I breathed deeply until it had dulled to its constant ache.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Bella said apologetically.

"It's okay." I opened my eyes and saw the guy with bronze hair and gold eyes, whose wedding pictures once hung on the living room wall, stood next to his wife, worried with something else. I also saw another man with pale skin and golden eyes and honey blonde hair stood at the end of the bed the same expression as Edward.

"What?" They both stared at me for a couple of moments more, then shook themselves and smiled simultaneously, creepy. My stomach twisted again, I felt like I was prey being assessed for how tasty I would be.

I fought the urge to shudder, but froze when a flash of red-eyed creatures against giant wolves. The red-eyed creatures looked like the three before me, just golden eyed.

I began to shake, scared and angry, both were a result of what was going on. Why was I seeing this? More images flashed before my eyes. I barely noticed my breathing quicken as I began to shake further.

"Marie?" Bella put an arm around my shoulders in what I _know_ was a comforting gesture, but for some reason my body jerked away from her, not in my control.

"Stay away." I pulled my knees up and rested my forehead on them. Trying to stop the images in front of my eyes. I kept seeing various things like Emily's marred face, a pack of huge wolves, white skin, sparkling skin, blood dripping down a chin, staining clothes, black cloaks, fire with purple smoke, posters of missing people.

"Marie, you need to calm down." A calming voice came from next to me. I kept my eyes tight shut as I registered the voice belonged to the Cullen patriarch.

"I don't understand." I gasped. "You're not normal."

The only noise in the room was my heart monitor getting higher, I could feel unconsciousness beckoning to me.

"Blood. So much blood." I murmured before darkness overtook me once again.

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**It will all be explained in due time, please review and leave any thoughts or comments or even constructive criticism!**


	8. Firben

I was released three days after I originally woke up, as I had to be sedated because of my 'panic attack'. None of the Cullen's visited after that, not for lack of trying, but because my Uncle asked them not to unless I asked or was fully recovered. He has tried to talk about why I reacted in such a way, but I've kept my mouth shut, I _felt _like I was crazy, I didn't want others to think so too.

Oscar visited me as soon as I was released, as the doctors said my visitors should be limited until I was discharged, which basically meant I was only allowed to talk to Charlie for two days, but I didn't mind as he had to leave for work occasionally so I got some time to gather my thoughts.

The more I thought about the images I saw, the more I was able to understand. I saw various members of the Cullen family, many of the people of La Push gathered around a campfire, I saw Bella curled up on a couch, and from what I saw of her face, she looked like she was close to death.

Although I saw more, I didn't know what it all meant... well it could just be that I'm off my trolley, but deep down I knew that I wasn't. I still didn't know what it meant.

"Hey baby." Oscar said as I opened the door. I smiled at him.

When he visited, I found out he was the one who pulled me out of the water and resuscitated me. He said he'd never been so scared. He thought I was gone for good.

He came over every day for a week, and we chatted more and more, some important things, and also nonsense. I really got to know him, as opposed to the week we hung out in class and lunch, which probably made it an easier decision to make when he asked if I would go out with him.

The two weeks of school punishment had finished, and after a talk with the headmaster, or 'principal', we were free once again. Thanks to that Oscar and I made occasional trips to the cinema, bowling alley, the arcade, the fair, and restaurants.

Alice or Bella still called everyday though, apparently they were still in Forks in the hope that I would agree to see them. But I wasn't going to, not until I had figured out everything in my head.

Today was the last day of spring break, and all of us had decided to head up to Seattle for a day out. Charlie had only said that I must be back by eleven and I mustn't break the law. Oscar promised as well, and Charlie seemed to be warming to him, especially as he was the one who 'saved' me, making me sound like such a damsel in distress... he liked to tease me about that.

Oscar picked me up last as I was the one furthest out in Forks, after he picked up the triplets. Faith, Becca, Jenna and Remmy were riding with Alex, as Xavier was Skiing in France with his parents.

As soon as we reached Seattle, Faith called and said they saw posters for a Fair and thought it would be a good idea to go, so after I relayed the directions to Oscar, we managed to park at lunchtime.

"Should we go get some lunch and then look around?" Vi grinned, linking arms with me.

"Sure, where looks good... oooh I haven't had crocodile in ages!" I spied a South African stall and I think I drooled smelling all the spices drifting from it.

"Crocodile? Why on earth have you eaten that?" Alex laughed as he and the rest of his group appeared behind us.

"There was this amazing South African restaurant near where I lived in England... some of the best food I've ever had. Well there was also that time in Bordeaux..."

"You've been to Spain?" Faith asked, earning an eye roll from every person there.

"Bordeaux is in France dumb-ass." Vi laughed.

"And yes I've been to France, several times, a few for holidays and others as an exchange student."

"So you can speak French?" Oscar raised an eyebrow.

"Oui, un peu. Mais je trouve que le vocabulaire est le plus facile que de s'apprends les temps."

"Show off." Vi muttered.

"I agree, but I think I may conveniently forget my French so you'll have to teach me." Oscar grinned wryly, and I _almost_ blushed.

"I'm sure we can work something out." I winked back, and pecked him on the lips, while all the others gagged.

"Get a room!" Alex hollered, while I glared at him.

They all seemed to think that Oscar and I had already exceeded third base, much to my embarrassment, but hugs and kisses was about as far as we progressed and I was comfortable with it, and it seemed like Oscar was too, so although it was untrue we let them think whatever they wanted.

After I tried to get everyone to try crocodile, most of them actually liked it, causing my smug grin, we split off into small groups agreeing to meet at the dodgems in two hours. I wanted to look around with Oscar, so Vi went with Alex, while her brother and Daisy went off themselves and Jenna and Faith ran to a jewelry stall, leaving and Daisy and Remmy to themselves.

"Where should we go first?" Oscar smiled, grabbing my hand.

"Lets just wander." I smiled back and pulled him along.

An hour later, he was absorbed in a woodwork stall and I really wanted to move on, but I couldn't bear to pull him away, he looked like a toddler at Christmas. So I quickly made an excuse to visit the music stall a short way up.

As I looked at the wind instruments I heard a throat clear and instinctively looked up. A very tall man was leaning casually against the stall, looking at me intently. He was dressed in a deep green suit with a black satin cravat which exaggerated the green in his eyes and his jet black hair. His white skin made the white stripes on the stall look cream, and he was so thin I wouldn't have been surprised if he had a eating disorder.

I opened my mouth to ask what his problem was, when he lifted one very long thin finger and curled it slowly and turned around and disappeared between the stalls. Intrigued I followed.

Just behind the stall was a emerald green tent with black tassels, it looked quite small from the outside, but when I stepped into it, it appeared to be twice the size. It's interior had two plush sofas covered in cushions, tables and bookshelves lined the walls covered in various artifacts I wouldn't be able to name, there were paintings which looked priceless and in the centre there was a stone pit where a fire was burning.

The man was already lounging in one of the sofa's so I sat in the one opposite him.

"You're very calm, you haven't any idea who I am." His voice was smooth like honey, but his chest rumbled deeply, and it had traces of another language hidden underneath it, like he wasn't accustomed to speaking English.

"It's not like we're very far away, besides I'm curious." I shrugged.

"How does the saying go... curiosity killed the cat?"

"Yes but satisfaction brought it back."

The edges of his dark lips twitched in amusement. "Touché."

"So why did you beckon me here?" I asked, relaxing into the cushions.

"You are a very intriguing young woman for one, your future is so twisted I can't get a read. But because I have a feeling about you, I am giving you the offer to ask me three questions, and three only. I'm fairly confident I will be able to answer anything you ask of me."

"So you're one of those 'fortune tellers'." I scoffed.

"Not exactly."

I pursed my lips and looked into his green eyes, noticing how the pupil wasn't quite round, it looked more reptilian. I blew out a gust of air. Great, I was having a psychotic break. May aswell make the most of it.

"If I ask you your name is that a question?"

"Technically that was a question, but I'll allow it this once, and I will allow you to call me Firben." He said it like fear-bean, I didn't know what language it was, but I didn't want to waste some of my so called 'questions'.

I thought for a few minutes.

"Is my father alive?"

"Yes."

All the air left my lungs in one heave. He was alive? I only said it to test him, if he said he was dead, it would be easier to accept that than he left my mum and I shortly after I was born and never bothered to contact me since.

"I don't believe you." I crossed my arms, forcing some conviction into my voice.

"Believe me or not, it doesn't change the facts. But if you need another reason to believe me, step outside. If you still don't believe me, you are welcome to leave." His long arm extended to the tent flap.

What did I have to lose?

I stood up and strode towards the flap and thrust it backwards, gasping. In front of me wasn't the striped music stall with unkempt grass thriving around it, there was no smell of candyfloss or burgers, no screams of delight or laughter.

Instead it was replaced with sand and rock. The huge expanse of rock in front of me looked like a ancient city had been carved out of it, parts of it were crumbling. Unsure if it was real, I stepped out, making sure I still held onto the tent flap, should it suddenly disappear.

A wall of heat hit me, so intense I was immediately pouring with sweat. My feet even sank in the golden sand. I could hear a bird of sorts overhead and I saw a snake slink past. I couldn't cope with it anymore so I turned around and re-entered the tent.

"Am I insane?"

"No. You are remarkably sane. More so than every human you know. One left."

I cocked my head slightly, wanting to ask what he meant by every 'human', but unsure as to use my last question like that.

"Please sit while you think, it will make me less jumpy."

I looked at him properly, and indeed he looked coiled as if he was ready to act at an instant, but it wasn't threatening, his reptilian eyes showed concern. So I heeded his request.

"Why did my mum die?"

He leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees, looking over the fire with sombre eyes.

"It was necessary. She needed to die for you to move to Forks and continue down your path. I'm not saying her death was foul-play of sorts, but it was determined many years ago when she would die. The closest thing I can say, is that it was fate."

I wasn't sure if he continued speaking or not, all I could think was that it was my fault. .

I only realised I was crying when a white hand held out a handkerchief. As I looked up and took it from him, I wasn't ashamed of my tears. I mumbled a thanks.

Once I composed myself, he spoke from were he sat patiently next to me.

"While I hate for you to leave so soon, it appears the young man you've been spending your time with is looking for you, getting quite frantic. So I would like to give you some words of advice. Firstly while your instincts may be very viable the majority of the time, sometimes you need to look past it and see what or who is truly standing in front of you. Secondly you need to begin to accept the things you don't understand as it could cause you a lot less pain in the future. Lastly, before you get too serious with Oscar Wills, he's not for you, so think about what you really want before you hurt him and yourself too badly." He stood up in a fluid movement and held his hand out to help me up. He then walked me to the tent flap. "Oh and if I were you, I would visit the jewelry stall, you might find something which would prove very useful in the future. Goodbye my sweet Shadow."

Then he nudged me out, I blinked, stunned at the sudden onslaught of noise.

I turned around to return the goodbye but found couple of crates and a cat sunning itself. I blinked again, my mouth open and closing like a fish, but shook my head. Yep insane.

0-0-0-0-0

"I'll pick you up at usual time tomorrow." Oscar gave me a deep kiss and then left.

"Home early." Charlie called from his usual spot on the sofa.

"Yeah we had an early dinner, so we could get back early."

Once I found Oscar, looking around frantically with the others, he expressed his worry, and it was only then I realised that I had been gone for almost an hour. After many apologies. We all decided to forgo the rides and went further into Seattle, Oscar's hand never leaving mine. But as we passed the jewelry stall near the entrance something caught my eye, drawing my attention to such an extent Oscar quickly paid for it with a chuckle.

It was a flat disc made out of some kind of polished green stone, on a sturdy but slim black string. One of the main reasons I was drawn to it was because it was exactly the same shade as Firben's eyes, well some dude in my mind. I put it on and it rested in between my breasts, making it easy to cover with various tops. But what amazed me most was how warm it was when I put it on, and how hot it's been since.

"Well I still have homework to do. Goodnight." I kissed him on the cheek and gave him a quick hug.

"Night, Sue's going to come over tomorrow night and cook for us, you can invite Oliver round if you'd like."

"It's Oscar as you very well know." I looked at him sternly while his eyes twinkled in glee. "But I think I will, I'll let you know."

I went upstairs and turned my laptop on, as I waited for it to boot, I decided to change, only to freeze when I took my shoes off.

They were full of golden sand.

* * *

**Hope you've all been well and depending on reviews I may bring in said wolf in the next chapter or two, or i may drag it out for a bit longer...**


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